Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar is set to face tough competition from former teammate Abey Kuruvilla who has thrown his hat in the ring to bag one of the three vacant spots in Indian men’s cricket selection panel. The former India pacer reportedly applied for the post on November 13. The vacancies were created after terms of Sarandeep Singh (North Zone), Devang Gandhi (East) and Jatin Paranjape (West) ended.
Both Agarkar and Kuruvilla are from Mumbai and played a lot of cricket together for both India and Mumbai. They are in fray to replace Paranjpe who held the West Zone selector’s position. The wealth of international experience in Agarkar’s kitty is set to give him the edge over all the applicants including Kuruvilla.
53-year-old former fast bowler Kuruvilla, who has played 10 Test matches and 25 ODIs, was in the junior selection panel from 2008-12 and headed it when India won the U-19 World Cup in 2012. In the same year, he was named as the chief selector for Mumbai.
The selectors have to be chosen by the Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory Committee, also comprising R P Singh and Sulakshana Naik.
The committee earlier in March this year had chosen Sunil Joshi (South Zone) and Harvinder Singh (Central Zone) as the members of the five-member panel.
The other high-profile cricketers who have applied for the role are former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh, and former India pacer Chetan Sharma (North Zone), former India opener Shiv Sundar Das (East Zone).
